100 Books to Read Before You Die - The Official List

by Shirley Hailstock

It started with a movie, The Equalizer. I like action movies and I like Denzel Washington. In this movie, his wife has died and she was a lover of books. She was reading the top 100 Books Everyone Should Read Before You Die.  He truly loved her and as homage, he's reading the top 100 books.  He's currently on number 91.

I looked for the list since I wanted to know how many of them I had read.  What I discovered is there are countless lists of top 100 books by different groups, organizations or individuals.  I had to choose one, so when I found a list that said it was The Official List, I went with that one.  Click this link (The Official List) if you want to see all 100 titles. I am glad to say that the majority of the books appear on many of the lists. You'd expect to see The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice on any reading list that claims to be the Top 100.

When I counted the titles I'd read, my number was 37. There were some collections like the Harry Potter series and the complete works of Shakespeare.  While I've read all the Harry Potter books, I only get to add one to my total. I didn't count Shakespeare at all since I've only read a few of his books/plays.  I've seen more of his works produced as a play or movie than actually reading the text. However, Hamlet was listed singularly and I included that one. In high school, I had to memorize parts of that play.

Some titles I tried to read and couldn't. The Hobbit is one of them. Even after The Lord of the Rings walked away with multiple Academy Awards, I tried to read The Hobbit and couldn't. Then I got it on CD and tried to listen to it.  Still I couldn't get into it.  There are some books, we're just not ready to spend the time trying to read.

There were also titles on the list I couldn't remember if I'd read the book or only seen a movie of the story. Little Women, Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights, and Anna Karenina have been movies, all with several remakes to their credit, and I can't remember if I ever read the book.

Of course, every list is going to come with surprises.  This one had a few books that I wouldn't choose for people to read before dying. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams are two.  This is my opinion. There are probably thousands of people who will disagree with me, but they will have their own list that differs from mine.

Another surprise came when I saw titles and didn't know a book existed. I thought these stories were made into movies from original screenplays. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy,  Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, On The Road by Jack Kerouac, and The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane are a few.

The list was limited to 100 titles, so it stands to reason that some expected titles will be missing.  For example, Middlemarch by George Eliot is listed, but Silas Marner is not.  Neither The Scarlet Letter nor any other works by Nathaniel Hawthorne are included in the list. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is present, but not Lord Jim.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel and The Invisible Man by National Book Award winner Ralph Ellison, and Native Son by Richard Wright were not listed. There were no books by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison or Ernest Hemingway.

So, of the books on this list that I've read, what is my favorite – The Great Gatsby.  A few years ago I read this book for the first time. I wanted to see if it stood the test of time. Would the book be just as interesting and relevant today as it was when it was written? My answer is yes. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I'd seen Robert Redford and Mia Farrow play Gatsby and Daisy countless times. And I even visited the house in Newport, Rhode Island where they filmed the movie, I was still in the can't put-it-down-mode.

Reading 37 titles is good, but not great. It's only a little over a third of the 100.  Just in case you want to know the 37 titles I have read, they're listed below.

So, like Ricky would say to Lucy, I got some readin' to do.

SPOOKED: A Halloween Dinner

With Halloween just around the corner I went a little overboard this year. While I don't have anyone to take out on the 31st and most of the kids in my neighborhood have grown up and are either in or out of college, the need to decorate should be low on the To Do List.

But it isn't.  I dug out the black plates and the holiday took on a life of it's own.

I started with a napkin. While seeing some of Halloween commercials, I thought about the witches hat and during a long commercial break, I went and got the black napkins and folded one, then another and another until I had enough for the entire table.

Now it was time to go to the store and I found all these wonderful decorations on sale.  The witches hat, needed a pumpkin spray.  This is what I found.

I already had the black plates and the white china.  The placements were hard to find in the number I needed, but eventually I prevailed.

 And how could have set a Halloween table without skulls.  These guys jumped out and I was forced to take them home.

Just a couple more, I said.  At night the candles in the house turn the room to an eerie orange glow.

And finally we were ready for the food.

We're planning to have dinner here on Halloween.  The menu is still under discussion.  Hope you enjoy your time to dress up and collect candy.

Your Face on the Cover of a Romance Novel

Have you ever wondered about the models on the cover of romance novels?  Are they professionals or regular people? You could be one.  I'm running a contest to choose a person to appear on the cover of one of my novels.  You can find all the details here where you can read the official rules and find the entry form.

If you want to be on the cover, know someone who does, have a daughter, son, child, grandchild, niece, nephew, son, or other friend or relative interested in the contest, keep reading...

Before you go to the link, here are some of the perks.  The contest is open to anyone (male/female) 18 years or older, regarding of size, age, color or ethnicity, from the forty-eight contiguous states of the United States of America.  We'll fly you to the Princeton, NJ area.

Add ground transportation to get you around the cities, towns, and municipalities of our state. Then we'll install you in a beautiful hotel.

Where you'll relax and eat at the best restaurants.  (There may be a couple of surprises related to the meals, but I can't say what they are now.) 

At this point, the real fun begins.  First the makeover.  A professional makeup artist will apply your makeup to perfection.

Next is the photo shoot.  (smile.)  We've hired a professional photographer to spend time taking your picture from every angle.  He/She will get the best shot(s).

And a little while later, you'll find yourself on the cover of a romance novel  Tentatively, the romance is titled Having the Genius's Baby.  (Of course, that is subject to change.)

Go to the website http://www.yourfaceonaromancenovel.com  and sign up.  Be sure to read the official rules.

PLEASE FORWARD AND SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER or  LINK WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

Thank you.

And as always, keep reading...